Last year's budget, budget 2021, allocated $791 million Canadian to cybersecurity. That was somewhat of an increase from budget 2019. On a per capita basis, as I mentioned earlier, Canada spends $20 on cybersecurity. When you compare that to what the U.K. spends on cybersecurity, which is $52 Canadian, and the U.S. spends $34 and France spends $37, we are well behind.
In terms of whether we are spending enough, the short answer is no. The Canadian business sector spent $7 billion on cybersecurity last year. That's clearly also not enough, because the Insurance Bureau of Canada indicates that 47% of our small and medium-sized businesses spent zero dollars on cybersecurity last year. So there is much room for growth.
We need to catch up to our allies in order to boost our defences. Part of that is mandating it. Part of that is for the government to fill, perhaps, a market failure, which is that cybersecurity is looked to as a cost centre and not prioritized. This needs to be prioritized at the highest level.